Aromatic hydrocarbons (arenes)

A distinctive set of physical and chemical properties is imparted to molecules that contain a functional group composed of three pairs of doubly bonded atoms (usually all carbon atoms) bonded together in the shape of a regular planar (flat) hexagon. The hexagonal ring is usually drawn with an alternating sequence of single and double bonds. The molecule benzene, C₆H₆, first discovered by English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday in 1825, is the smallest molecule that can contain this functional group, and arenes contain one or more benzene (or structurally similar) rings. Because benzene and many larger arenes have a strong odour, they have long been known as aromatic hydrocarbons. Benzene, and all the larger arenes, have a characteristic planar structure forced on them by the electronic requirements of the six (or more) pi electrons. When named as substituents on other structural units, the aromatic units are called aryl substituents. Naphthalene, the active component of mothballs, contains two fused benzene rings. Benzo[a]pyrene, an aromatic hydrocarbon produced in small amounts by the combustion of organic substances, contains five fused benzene rings. Like several other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, it is carcinogenic. Aromatic compounds are widely distributed in nature. Benzaldehyde, anisole, and vanillin, for example, have pleasant aromas.